Girl set on fire, but survives
A teenage girl was set on fire by unidentified assailants on Thursday in Rajbari.
The 10th grader told police that she was able to extinguish the flames by rolling on the ground and suffered only minor injuries.
The incident harks back to the memory of Nusrat Jahan Rafi who was doused in kerosene and burnt to death in Feni on April 6.
In Rajbari, the girl was attacked after her family refused to pay money to blackmailers who had earlier sexually harassed her and took pictures of the incident, according to a case filed on Friday night with Sadar Police Station.
In the case, her father accused Shilpi Begum, 40, and four unnamed suspects of attempting to kill his daughter by setting her on fire.
On April 12, the girl was returning home from a local market around 1:00pm when four unidentified men forcibly took her to a bush and harassed her. They also took some photos of the incident and let her go, the case statement said.
After that, the suspects started calling the girl’s family and demanding Tk 2 lakh. They threatened to upload the photos on social media, unless they were paid the money.
The suspects also asked the family to give the money to Shilpi, a villager who was accused in the case.
On Thursday, four people in burqas entered the girl’s home around 12:30 pm when she was alone and took her forcefully to a nearby jute field. Then they tied her legs, hands and gagged her with a scarf. They then set her on fire and fled the scene.
She was rescued by villagers a little while after she managed to survive the murder attempt, the case added.
Swapan Kumar Majumdar, officer-in-charge of the police station, said accused Shilpi had fled the area and police police were looking for the suspects.
Comments